New Orange County school buses are friendlier to environment

6:39 p.m. EST, April 24, 2012|By Jon Busdeker, Orlando Sentinel

Orange County's new-style school buses are still painted yellow, but the emphasis is on being green.

At a cost of $11 million, the county bought more than 100 buses — its first purchase since 2009 — to replace those that have worn out. The new ones use less fuel and produce fewer emissions, and they're equipped with the latest electronic gadgetry.

"So much cleaner and better for the environment" is how Jim Beekman, director of transportation for Orange schools, described the 108 buses — 88 standard ones and 20 with wheelchair lifts.

School officials said the increased fuel efficiency — a jump from 7 miles per gallon to 9 — may save the district more than $2 million in fuel over the next 10 years, which is the typical amount of time that the district keeps buses.

At a preview Tuesday, district officials showed off one of the new buses at the school district headquarters in downtown Orlando.

Besides the eco-friendly technologies, each bus, manufactured in High Point, N.C., by Thomas Built, is equipped with GPS and infrared cameras. Although those features aren't new, they have been upgraded.

The GPS doesn't give drivers directions. Instead, it allows district transportation officials to monitor routes, track arrival times and locate a bus in case a driver gets lost. Beekman said the GPS also can be used to collect data that can help make the bus system more efficient.

Huckeba called the cameras tools for use in an accident or emergency. They're also a deterrent, he said.

"It's an added incentive for the students to behave because they know they are on video," Huckeba said.

The three cameras in each bus — two in front and one in the rear — have digital recorders and will work even in low light. The new buses are outfitted with air conditioning and seat belts, which are required by law.

Other school districts have been adding advanced buses to their fleets too. Seminole County spent $1.9 million on 22 buses this year, for example, and Lake County spent $3.6 million on 37 buses.

In Orange, the new buses will start picking up students this summer.

Each year, the more than 1,000 buses operated by Orange County serve more than 70,000 students, and travel 91,000 miles a day.

Worn-out buses will be auctioned off and could bring about $500,000, Beekman said.

In the past, older buses, which usually have more than 100,000 miles on them, were sold to public transportation systems in developing countries.